Mencius believes that human nature is good, and human nature contains the seeds of these virtues. The following is my thesis on Mencius' theory of moral cultivation. Welcome to read and study.
Mencius is a representative figure of Confucianism in the pre-Qin period. On the basis of inheriting and developing Confucius' moral theory, his moral cultivation thought is more rational and speculative. He takes the theory of human nature at the beginning of life as the theoretical starting point and takes the cultivation of "integrity and honesty" as the central topic of moral cultivation. He put forward that noble moral cultivation should have an independent personality of "three must be immoral, poor and immovable, mighty and unyielding", a broad mind of "taking the world as one's own responsibility", a sense of social responsibility of "knowing before knowing" and a sense of social responsibility of "integrating knowledge with practice"
Keywords: Mencius; Moral cultivation; Noble spirit
Confucianism emphasizes the moral cultivation of people, especially the moral cultivation of intellectuals. Confucius said, "Scholars are interested in Tao." ("The Analects of Confucius Benevolence") "Scholars have a long way to go to strive for self-improvement." (The Analects of Confucius Taber) "It is not enough to think that a scholar is a scholar!" ("The Analects of Confucius") "When a man sees danger and is fatal, he sees what he thinks." On the basis of inheriting Confucius' moral cultivation, Mencius' moral cultivation thought is more rational and speculative. His theory of moral cultivation takes the theory of human nature as the theoretical starting point, and the cultivation of "integrity" as the central topic of moral cultivation, and puts forward that noble moral cultivation should have the independent personality of "three noes": "wealth cannot be lewd, poverty cannot be moved, and power cannot be bent"; We must have a broad mind of "taking the world as our responsibility"; We should have a sense of social responsibility of "perception precedes cognition" and a conscious awareness of "being strict with ourselves".
First, the basis of Mencius' moral cultivation-"at the beginning of life, human nature is good."
The good and evil of human nature is a controversial topic in the history of thought, and different judgments on human nature have constructed different moral cultivation theories. According to the theory of goodness of human nature, people have transcendental goodness, and people's moral cultivation is to continue to carry forward this goodness. The evil theorists believe that people do not have transcendental goodness, but have the ability to sum up experience, and on the basis of summing up experience, transform transcendental evil and cultivate virtue. Mencius constructed an ideal moral system from the theory of good nature and established the mainstream tradition of Confucian moral theory.
"Everyone has compassion; Everyone has a heart of shame and evil; Everyone has a respectful heart; Everyone has a right and wrong heart. Compassion, benevolence; Shame and nausea, righteousness also; Respect and courtesy; The heart of right and wrong is also wise. Benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom are not foreign, and I am also inherent. " ("Mencius Gaozi")
Mencius believes that human nature is good, and human nature contains the seeds of these virtues. (P4 1) People are born with compassion, shame, right and wrong, and respect, but human nature will change, and human nature is the bud of goodness. "Everyone has a heart that can't bear others. Today's people will go down the well at first sight, and they are all compassionate. If you don't make friends with obedient parents, you will be praised by hardworking villagers. If you don't hate their voices, you will naturally do so. From the point of view, there is no compassion, and it is inhuman; No shame, no humanity; It is inhuman to have no resignation; A heart without right and wrong is inhuman. Compassion is the purpose of benevolence; The heart of shame and evil, the end of righteousness; The words of the heart are the end of the ceremony; The heart of right and wrong is also the end of wisdom. People have four ends, but they still have four bodies. " ("Mencius Gongsun Ugly")
It can be seen that the "four ends" are only the seeds of good ends, which are still incomplete and unstable and influenced by acquired education. If a person wants to be a virtuous person, he must give full play to the internal factors of "goodness" and actively expand the goodness through the efforts of the day after tomorrow, otherwise the goodness will also be lost and tend to be "evil". "Rich, disciple lai; When he is fierce, his disciples are violent, and it is natural for him to fall from the sky, so he is trapped in his heart. " In Mencius' view, people's moral qualifications are the same, and people who lose goodness can't give play to goodness subjectively. Mencius' theory of good nature not only encourages people to have moral self-confidence, but also provides a broad space for people's moral cultivation, showing people's value.
Second, the core of Mencius' moral cultivation-noble spirit.
Mencius deeply analyzed the cultivation of noble morality based on the theory of good nature and centered on the cultivation of "noble spirit".
What is "aristocratic spirit"? Hao: majestic and upright; Qi: refers to the spirit; Correct the spirit of atmospheric festival. (P546) Mencius recorded such a dialogue: "Sun Chou asked' Dare to ask the master if he is evil?' (Mencius) said,' I know what I say, and I am good at nurturing my lofty spirit.' (asked by Sun Chou):' Dare you ask what is the noble spirit?' Wen Wen:' It's hard to say. It is qi, as strong as it is, and it is harmless to raise it directly, so it is stuffed between heaven and earth. It is also qi, which is consistent with righteousness and Tao; It's okay. I'm sorry, too. It comes from the collection of righteousness and also from the attack of righteousness. "("Mencius Gongsun Chou ")
Mencius believes that the noble spirit is the spirit of integrity, the righteousness in the world and the righteousness created by virtue. When a person has eternal spiritual strength, he can be calm and calm in the face of external temptations and threats, and reach the realm of "unmoved". Mencius summed this up as a noble moral sentiment of "three noes", that is, wealth can't be lewd, poverty can't be moved, and power can't be bent.
The preservation of morality is not Yong Cheng's success, but a kind of goodness of thought that can promote the promotion of spirit; Evil thoughts can also lead to moral collapse. (P 18 1)
In Mencius' view, the cultivation of "noble spirit", as the cultivation of moral personality, has high standards and strict requirements, and its cultivation is not a day's work, nor can it be cultivated by everyone. However, people should not give up their moral requirements because of high standards and strict requirements. The spirit of awe is the basic quality of noble moral cultivation.
Third, the specific content of Mencius' moral cultivation.
Based on the goodness of human nature and the cultivation of honesty as the core, Mencius put forward the specific content of noble moral cultivation:
(A) noble moral cultivation should have a noble independent personality.
What is an independent personality? Independent personality is not attached to powerful people, is not subject to material interests, and adheres to its noble spiritual pursuit. Mencius summarized it as "three noes", that is, "wealth can't be lewd, poverty can't be moved, and power can't be bent." This is called a gentleman. "
The "three noes" emphasize that intellectuals should have their own spiritual pursuit and moral stance even in the face of high officials and generous salaries. Mencius believed that people should maintain an independent personality, stick to their own moral bottom line and not be influenced by external factors. "Don't lose your righteousness, don't deviate from the Tao" ("Mencius"), no matter what your personal situation, you must stick to morality. In this way, only when talents have the inner backbone can they have an independent and noble personality. "If you want to benefit the people, you can't cultivate yourself in the world." The value of an independent personality is that it can persist in nobility, reject mediocrity and be independent when being discussed.
(2) to cultivate noble morality, we must have a broad mind that takes the world as our responsibility.
"Haoran" originally refers to grand weather and broad mind. A broad mind that takes the world as its own responsibility is an important embodiment of lofty spirit. "Mencius" has such a record: the son went to the state of Qi and asked, "If anything happens to your master. The day before yesterday, I heard the masters say,' A gentleman doesn't complain about heaven or care about people.' "Yue:" At that time, at this time. Within 500 years, there will be kings and celebrities. From the 700-year-old Zhou. In its number, it is too much; You can do it if you test it at the right time. My husband doesn't want to rule the world. If you want to rule the world, who is the world today? " ("Mencius Gongsun Chou")
In Mencius' view, every five hundred years in history, there will be a wise monarch, and there will be an outstanding person who assists the monarch. Seven hundred years have passed since Zhou Wuwang, and now it is time for sages to make great achievements. If God wants to make the world peaceful, only he can undertake such a great mission at that time.
It should be said that this broad mind of taking the world as its own responsibility has influenced China's intellectuals since Confucius and Mencius. Any person with lofty ideals has such a broad mind, which continues to this day is what we often call the social conscience and social responsibility of intellectuals. They can transcend their own selfish interests, take the happiness of the whole society as their concern object and take it as a place for them to try their hand. This is the tradition of Confucianism, and it is also the tradition of China intellectuals.
(3) Noble moral cultivation should have a sense of social responsibility of "being aware before learning, being aware before learning".
"This life is in the sky, and it is also the first awareness, and then awareness. Give, the enlightenment of the heavenly people; I want to treat you like a man. No one realized it, and no one. " ("Mencius Zhang Sentences")
In Mencius' view, intellectuals, compared with the general public, first master knowledge, first understand the truth, and first improve their moral level. God trains these intellectuals to enlighten, educate and help ordinary people, so that they can also have knowledge, culture and morality. When cultivating them, God should do his best to repay the society.
"Perception first, knowledge later, perception first, perception later" itself puts high demands on scholars. The premise of foresight is to have real talent and practical learning, but also to have a noble moral level. If the education level is not high, the knowledge is inaccurate, and even the moral level is poor, there is no way to educate the people. To truly fulfill social responsibilities, we must improve our literacy in all aspects in order to "make people shine." ("Mencius wholeheartedly")
(D) the cultivation of noble morality should have a sense of self-discipline.
"Therefore, the sky will drop to a great post, and people must first suffer their minds, their bones and muscles, starve their bodies, empty their bodies, and do whatever they want, so they can't endure it." (Mencius said to his son)
Mencius attached great importance to the consciousness of moral cultivation. God has given a person a great historical mission, which will definitely make him experience arduous physical and mental hardships. Through this kind of hardship, he will exercise, strengthen his will and grow his talents. Difficulties and setbacks in the development of things are inevitable. It is by constantly overcoming difficulties and correcting mistakes that we can constantly sharpen our sentiments and increase our wisdom. This requires people to be strict with themselves and have a clear goal of moral cultivation, which is not stipulated by external legal provisions, but guided by internal moral regulations. Moral self-discipline that is strict with self-discipline is a driving force for people to pursue inner perfection.
Mencius' theory of moral cultivation shows the consciousness of human moral rationality and the absolute value of moral practice, which is both internal and beyond. Inheriting and drawing lessons from the essence contained in his moral cultivation theory will help us to improve our moral cultivation, improve our moral personality, become a moral model of society, and also help to cultivate a good moral atmosphere and promote the harmonious development of society.
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